"Doctors were not able to save her feet due to the severity of those injuries. Kristin is in critical but stable condition at this time and has a very long road ahead."

But she's alive — an outcome that the police chief could scarcely have imagined. Most people wouldn't have lived through the plunge, much less the frigid nights with no food or water, he said.

"Miracle," he said. "That's probably the best word I could use."

Lombard agreed, recalling how terrible he felt when he first got close to Hopkins' car and saw it was totaled.

"It was very devastating at first," he said, "but truly a miracle that she pulled through it."

He shrugged off praise for what he did, saying it was luck he happened to see the car in a grove of trees, barely visible from the highway.

The real hero of the ordeal, he said, is Hopkins herself.

"Truly she is a woman of endurance," he said. "I'm really proud of her for hanging on."

St. Anthony Hospital via Reuters

Kristin Hopkins, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, survived for days trapped in the wreckage of her car after driving off a mountain highway.

First published May 6 2014, 2:05 PM

Tracy Connor

Tracy Connor is a senior writer for NBC News. She started this role in December, 2012. Connor is responsible for reporting and writing breaking news, features and enterprise stories for NBCNews.com. Connor joined NBC News from the New York Daily News, where she was a senior writer covering a broad range of news and supervising the health and immigration beats. Prior to that she was an assistant city editor who oversaw breaking news and the courts and entertainment beats.

Earlier, Connor was a staff writer at the New York Post, United Press International and Brooklyn Paper Publications.

Connor has won numerous awards from journalism organizations including the Deadline Club and the New York Press Club.